r/wikipedia • u/Appropriate_Act3912 • 1d ago

How does wikipedia know if a user has multiple accounts?

Question in the title. How does wikipedia know that there is a main account that has different sockpuppets? If i just create a new profile with another name, password and email, how does wikipedia know the accounts are tied to the same person?

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u/DaSecretSlovene 1d ago

There exist a user group of checkusers (CUs) which can under some circumstances (abuse, account compromisation, etc.) look into your IP, hardware and software and based on interpretation of this data they conclude whether two or more accounts are same or not. More commonly, a WP:DUCK approach is taken which is based on behavioural analysis and can be carried out by any admin (although CUs can do it as well).